The Hairy woodpecker (Leuconotopicus villosus) is a medium-sized woodpecker that is found over a large area of North America. Woodpeckers are chiefly known for their characteristic behavior. They mostly forage for insect prey on the trunks and branches of trees and often communicate by drumming with their beaks, producing a reverberatory sound that can be heard at some distance.
Adult Hairy woodpeckers are mainly black on the upper parts and wings, with a white or pale back and white spotting on the wings; the throat and belly vary from white to sooty brown, depending on subspecies. There is a white bar above and one below the eye. They have a black tail with white outer feathers. Adult males have a red patch or two side-by-side patches on the back of the head; juvenile males have red or rarely orange-red on the crown.
Hairy woodpeckers are found in the Bahamas, Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the United States. These birds are mostly permanent residents. Populations in the extreme north may migrate further south; birds in mountainous areas may move to lower elevations. Hairy woodpeckers inhabit mature deciduous, coniferous, and mixed forests, woodland, forest edges, and groves along rivers.
Hairy woodpeckers are generally solitary birds. They are active during the day spending most of their time looking for food. These birds forage on trees, often turning over bark or excavating to uncover insects. They also frequently visit bird feeders where they eat suet and sunflower seeds.
Hairy woodpeckers and omnivores. They mainly eat insects, but also fruits, berries, and nuts, as well as tree sap and suet.
Hairy woodpeckers are monogamous and form pairs that may stay together for more than one season. They usually breed between late March and early June. Mating pairs will excavate a hole in a tree, where they will lay, on average, 4 white eggs. Both parents will incubate the eggs for about 2 weeks. The chicks are altricial; they hatch blind, naked, and helpless. They fledge at about 28-30 days of age and remain with their parents for two weeks more.
Hairy woodpeckers are widespread and are not considered endangered at present. However, populations of these birds suffer from the fragmentation of their habitat and competition for nesting cavities with European starlings.
According to the All About Birds resource the total breeding population size of the Hairy woodpecker is around 9 million birds. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, and its numbers today are increasing.
